2018

These annual recaps are so fun for me, but they're a challenge when there are 365 days and millions of moments to remember, very few of which have been recorded in any organized way.

My social media activity is intentionally minimal, and my iPhone camera roll is only moderately helpful, so this year I committed to being better at capturing all the things.

So on a note in my phone starting January 1, I kept a raw, running list of ideas, books, scriptures, griefs, and victories.

I still didn't get them all, and they don't all have a place here anyway, but here are some noteworthy memories from 2018:

biggest thrill
Georgia's Rose Bowl comeback and win against Oklahoma in 2 overtimes, with Mom

felt like a kid
At the preceding Rose Parade

 
most notable celebration
Labor Day weekend with the whole family for Dad's 70th birthday

(sometimes related) mantras i couldn't stop saying
"Words matter."
"Be better."

best book
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

most challenging book
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Butterfield

most helpful disciplines
Leaving my phone outside of my bedroom
Transcribing the Psalms
Turning off iPhone badge notifications for my work email account

theological obsession
The theology of work

biggest heartbreak
Georgia's loss to Alabama in the National Championship game

best view
From the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in Sydney, Australia

better than i imagined
Bluetooth service in a new car

biggest surprise
Being selected as one of Birmingham's Top 40 Under 40

favorite concert
Ben Rector's Magic Tour stop at the Alabama Theater

most indulgent meal
OvenBird in Birmingham, for Bethany's birthday

spent my birthday
At work, at lunch with Mom and Bethany, and then at dinner with Ashley, Sue, and Val

but for-real celebrated my 40th
In Australia with Bethany and Christie in May, and hence ...

marked off the bucket list
Australia (Continent #4)

wasn't on the bucket list but did it anyway
Drove on the left side of the road (where that's the law)

tried for the first time
Surfing in Surfer's Paradise, Queensland, Australia

could not stop laughing
At this photo shoot happening on that beach in Surfer's Paradise

WHAT IS HAPPENING UP THERE.

weird, but significant
Crying on two occasions in restaurants, overcome with emotions about a friend's ill mom, and about turning 40

u.s. cities visited for the first time
Pasadena, California
Austin, Texas
Waco, Texas
College Park, Maryland

best and worst money spent
On a new A/C unit for my house

favorite purchases
A tea kettle from Home Goods
A custom designed tea box to store all my hot tea
The recovering of my very old Bible that needed some TLC 

podcast i binged the fastest
Dr. Death

movies i loved

A Quiet Place

Mary Poppins Returns

netflix obsession

Call the Midwife 
  

favorite album
The Greatest Showman (can't stop, won't stop)

songs i repeated a million times
"There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" by Red Mountain Church
"O Come to the Altar" by Elevation Worship

I don't know what 2019 will hold, but I'm confident there will be another running list of thrills and goodness and struggles and experiences that will make it special.

Until then, cheers, friends, to flipping that calendar right into 2019. Happy New Year!